District hospitals to get linked to medical colleges

In an attempt to provide timely and quality healthcare to patients in district hospitals, particularly gynaecological and surgical, Chhattisgarh government is all set to start telemedicine services, linking specialists from medical colleges to doctors in districts via videoconferencing on Skype.

As per the plan, the government proposes to link five medical colleges in state to the 24 district hospitals. Initially this would begin in Raipur, that will let doctors and other staffs in district hospitals to seek advice from surgeons and gynaecologists for complicated cases.

Confirming the move, director medical education (DME) Pratap Singh said the main purpose of this facility is to ensure that expert advise is instantly available to district hospital. This, he said, would not only reduce burden on medical colleges and hospitals but would also save valuable time for referral patients.

Presently, the state has five medical colleges including Raipur, Bilaspur, Jagdalpur, Rajnandgaon and Raigarh. Officials in the health department claim that this facility would be a boon for gynaecological patients, as many end up in medical colleges due to unavailability of experts in district hospitals.